Reflective blog: Expert lecture on "Waiting for the Barbarians" by R.B.Zala

Reflective blog: Expert lecture on "Waiting for the Barbarians" by R.B.Zala 

'The more you know, the more your critical mind may suffer'

The reading of any book is not at all easy task but it doesn't mean that one can quite reading or read it only to get entertain. Talking about Waiting for the Barbarians, it is a worth reading novel written by twice Booker Prize winner novelist,linguistic and critic J.M.Coetzee.

 "Pain is truth; all else is subject to doubt"

  - J.M.Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians 

Waiting for Barbarians is not that much fantastic novel which deals with magical realism and so on but it can be considered as fable of post-colonial literature as well as it can also be viewed as within the context of the development of literary allegory. It is the story of people who are considered as 'Other' by civilized people.

Once in every generation, without fail, there is an episode of hysteria about the barbarians.

- The Magistrate, Waiting for the Barabarians

In order to provide us a better understanding about this particular text, two days guest lecture on 8th and 9th January,2020; was organized by Dilip Barad sir at English dept,MKBU as well as Dr.R.B.Zala sir provided us deeper vision to look into the text. Following are the concepts, on which sir provided us guidance for the better understanding of the Waiting for the Barbarians, in two day's session.

#Imperialism_and_power

#Cultural_Autonomy

#Repossesion_and_probalamatization_of_history

#Construction_of_Other

#Empowerment_of_dispossed

#Difference_between_historical_time_and_natural_time

#Ambuigity_in_representation_of_Barbarian_women

 "Waiting for the Barbarians"

John Maxwell Coetzee

John Maxwell Coetzee is one of the most acclaimed and decorated South African born novelist, essayist, critic, linguist and translator; widely known as J.M.Coetzee. He also won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. He won the Booker Prize two times, in 1983 and in 2003. Along with it he also won the Jerusalem Prize, CAN Prize, the Prix Femina etranger, The Irish Times international Fiction Prize as well as many other awards also.

His notable works are:

“Age of Iron”

“Foe”

“Diary of a Bad Year”

“Slow Man”

“Life & Times of Michael K”

“Waiting for the Barbarians”

“The Childhood of Jesus”

“Dusklands”

“The Shooldays of Jesus”

“Disgrace”

“The Master of Petersburg”

He is man who not only talks about engaging narrative stories but also takes up socio-political issues in different ways and he stands against apartheid.

In “Waiting for the Barbarians”,  J.M.Coetzee by wielding his pen a sword, he exposed all the injustice of apartheid in manifestation as well as what nelson Mandela has done for black in South Africa in the political domain, same notion was created by J.M.Coetzee through literature.

Let’s have a look on some glimpses of “The Waiting for the Brabarians”.

Characters

The Magistrate

Colonel Joll

Warrant Officer Mandel

Barbarian Girl or The noamad girl

Mai

Plot Summary

J.M.Coetzee’s “Waiting for the barbarians” centres around power struggles in a fictional colonial village.

“I have seen anything like it: two little discs of glass suspends in front of his eyes in loops of wire. Is he blind?”

The story began very symbolically  with the arrival of Colonel joll wearing a black glasses; representing his and the Empire’s hidden identity and evil intentions as well. He was travelling from town to town searching for the news for barbarians who lived outside the Empire’s boarder. Unnamed magistrate was living quite peaceful life in a remote outpost of the Empire until being visited by Colonel Joll. The entire plot moves with the spreading rumour that barbarians were planning to attack against Empire. Colonel Joll had been investigating whether the military action was needed or not. While he was searching for this, he found two native people near the granary, where some grain has gone missing. Colonel Joll suspected on them and questioned, old man died and however under the duress torture the young man falsely admitted to knowing of an impending barbarian uprising. After that Colonel Joll got confirmation that there was a need to launch a full-scale attack against barbarians. Because of all these doubt grew in the magistrate’s mind.

“What if your prisoner is telling the truth,” he asks, “yet finds he is not believed?” But Colonel Joll couldn’t believe anything a prisoner said unless it was extracted through pain. J.M.Coetzee wrote

“Pain is truth, all else is subjected to doubt”

In between during the time of temporary peace, the Magistrate pondered upon the legitimacy of imperialism and his role in this sinister institution. He happened to nurse a native wounded girl, in taking care of her to get back to the health however this process created a intimate bond between them. Finally the magistrate decided to take the girl back to her family. While returning back from there The Magistrate met with third Bureau, he was imprisoned and he was tortured a lot.  The time of the winter came and John with his army left the empire with giving promise to come back after winter and magistrate stepped back as leader of town.

With the discourse of the novel, we can say that Barbarians were never a real threat to the authority of the Empire. By terrorizing the population, or by forcing a so-called raid against barbarians, colonizer only wanted to control them, indeed what  third Bureau was purported to do.  As the Magistrate noted in the final passage of the novel, there were no barbarians to be seen after the lapse of the winter. From this it can be said that there were never any Barbarians attempted to overthrow the Empire before.

In this way the play deals with several themes such as fear of the Others, Imperialism, Interrogation,  Dominance and Masculinity and Savagery and Barbarism.

In this way Coetzee presented the institution of imperialism, that was also culturally prejudiced with being economical exploitative. In this way the story can be read as an allegory for most acts of conquest and subjugation with propagandistic declarations of protecting ‘civilization’ from ‘barbarians’.

Thus, it is a basic storyline of the novel, it also reminds us about Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal colony” , particularly about explore and officer’s role playing within unidentified colonial regime.